seabird

American  

[see-burd] / ˈsiˌbɜrd /

Or sea bird

noun

1. a bird frequenting the sea or coast.

---

Etymology

Origin of seabird

First recorded in 1580–90; sea + bird

Explanation

A seabird is any bird that lives most of its life near the sea (makes sense, right?). Gulls are one of the most common types of seabird. When you go to the beach, you're bound to sea at least some seabirds. The big gray and white seabirds that try to steal your lunch are gulls, and the tiny seabirds that look like wind-up toys running in a group along the tideline may be plovers. Most seabirds nest in large colonies, and most of them are also migratory, meaning they travel many miles during the course of a year, often circumnavigating the entire planet.

Example Sentences

It says something about Diamond’s heat in the wake of “Hot August Night” that he scored a Top 40 hit with a song from a movie about an intrepid seabird.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

The towering chalk cliffs of Bempton are home to England's "largest seabird city", with about half a million puffins, gannets, kittiwakes and guillemots living there between March and August each year, according to the RSPB.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

The LPO says: "Mass seabird strandings frequently follow winter storms, but this episode is exceptional in both its scale and duration."

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

But a particularly dangerous strain of the disease was detected in April 2024 by Chilean researcher Victor Neira and his team in five skuas, a type of polar seabird.

From Barron's • Feb. 17, 2026

Its fluffy coating of white feathers was flattened with salt spray, making it look—and smell— convincingly like a large white seabird, or the remains of one.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood